73 | From Coach Training to Business Launch: A Conversation with Emerging Coach Jess Spiers

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Joanna: Welcome to Women

in the Coaching Arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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Today I'm really excited

to have Jess here.

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Jess messaged me saying that she is

intending to join the business of

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coaching after she's finished her

ILM level 7 in executive coaching.

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And would I like to share the

perspective of someone who is

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considering making that investment?

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And I know that so many of you are in

that place where you've just invested a

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lot of money in your coach training and

you're wondering whether to do this alone

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or whether to get help in that next step.

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So super excited to chat with

Jess today and hear her thoughts.

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I'm as interested as you are

in what she needs help in.

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Why she's looking to invest in the

business side of things as well as

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obviously investing in the coaching

side of things which she has done.

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So cannot wait to chat.

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Please do share with us a bit about

your journey in coaching so far.

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Jess: Hi Jo, thank you for

having me on the podcast.

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. So most of my career has

been in digital content.

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When I was 39, I had some

coaching through my work.

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And as part of that, my coach said to

me, I think you'd make a good coach.

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And it completely took me by surprise

because I don't think it ever would have

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crossed my mind to even consider that as

a career path if she hadn't said that.

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So that sowed the seed for me

and I just found that coaching

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would be an amazing fit for me.

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And I took the plunge and signed

up to do my ILM level seven, senior

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and executive coaching diploma.

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I'm coming to the end of that

now . And I'm starting to think

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about the business side of things,

which led me to send you that email.

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Joanna: Yay!

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So excited to learn more and I did the

ILM level seven in executive coaching too.

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So share your experience of

that qualification so far.

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Jess: I mean, it sounds

a bit cliche, doesn't it?

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But it genuinely has been

life changing for me.

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I don't think I've ever worked

as hard at anything in my life,

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other than raising two children.

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It's been very demanding, very

challenging, but honestly, one of

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the best things I've ever done.

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I trained with In Good Company,

a shout out to them there.

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I really couldn't

recommend them more highly.

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Joanna: Yay, love it.

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Yeah, it's such a personal growth

journey training as a coach, isn't it?

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Let alone the skills that

you can use on others.

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So totally, I hear you.

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And as someone now on the cusp of

being qualified, what are your biggest

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concerns when it comes to starting

and growing your coaching business?

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Jess: That's a very good question

because I think probably anyone

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starting out on setting up their

own business, whatever field it's

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in has about a billion concerns.

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For me, it's getting those clients in.

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You do your course, you do your practice

hours, and of course it's much easier to

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get free clients than it is pay clients.

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For me, It's, what I need to do to create

that steady pipeline, because it's just

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so different to being in an employed role.

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if you've not done that before,

it's just a whole different

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mindset you need to be in.

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So it's the getting the

consistent pipeline of clients.

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It's also for me, because I'm,

I'm pretty early on in my journey.

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I haven't defined my package as such.

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So at the moment I'm selling six coaching

sessions, but I know that the messaging

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around that can be a lot more compelling

about what people can get out of it.

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But it's the messaging as well, I

think, and how you position yourself.

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And there's just so

much to it, isn't there?

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And when you're new to it, it

can feel quite overwhelming.

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Joanna: Yeah, totally.

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And it's not just even the basics anymore.

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Just like coaching.

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How can you continue to get

better and better at this skill?

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So yes, very excited you're considering

it, especially so early in your journey,

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because I think most people struggle

for a good year to two years sometimes

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before getting the help that they need.

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So what has led you to considering

working with a business coach

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at this stage in your journey?

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Jess: So the reason for me is the

business and the marketing and

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the sales and all of that stuff.

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And I'm a very impatient person as

well, so I didn't want to wait around.

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I wanted to hit the ground running, and

I'm trying a few things out myself now.

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I'm seeing what works

well and what doesn't.

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I've started to experiment.

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I'm doing a special offer at the moment.

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And it's actually quite fun experimenting

with things, but I think I definitely

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would benefit from the experience of

someone who's been there and done that.

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And yeah, that's what's led

me to you and your program.

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Joanna: Yeah, totally love it.

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And the hidden benefit of doing something

when you are feeling excited and motivated

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is that you haven't lost that confidence

that often people have lost by the time

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they've been kind of going around on their

own without support and then takes quite

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a long time to build people up again.

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How did you find me and the

business of coaching and what

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attracted you to the program?

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Jess: I'm a massive podcast fan and

I was searching for coaching podcasts

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to add to my collection and yours

came up, and it was a bit different

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to the other ones I'd listened to.

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What I really like about your approach

is that you're very authentic,

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although that is quite an overused word

these days, you are very authentic.

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And, I believe what you say, you know,

you get a lot of those, make six figures

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in three months and that kind of thing.

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So going back to talking about the

messaging, the messaging you put in

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your LinkedIn posts and on your podcast,

it's almost like I've said it myself,

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if that makes sense and I work really

well in that sort of environment.

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Joanna: Oh, love it.

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Yeah.

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I assumed you found me on LinkedIn.

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So great to know that people

actually do just search for coaching

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in podcasts and find the podcast.

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And you touched on it there, but why

me and not another business coach?

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Jess: Yeah.

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It definitely, for me, comes back

to that authenticity piece and the

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trust that comes along with that.

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So I, it's weird, isn't it?

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So I almost feel like I know

you a little bit in like the

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least stalkerish way possible.

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You're also very honest about the fact

that you do need to put work into this.

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You need to be ready to go all in.

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And I think.

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probably six months ago, I wouldn't

have been ready to do that.

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But I think I'm coming to the

point now where I'm like, this

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is definitely the right time.

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And you've also published some great

case studies as well, which are obviously

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always so good to read, aren't they?

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They really paint a picture of what

it's like to work with someone.

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So, yeah, I think those

are really useful as well.

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Joanna: Yeah, fabulous.

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That's great to hear.

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And in say the next one to two

years, what would be your ultimate

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dream for your coaching business?

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Jess: For me, it's getting qualified.

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That needs to come first.

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Um, my core values is integrity.

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So for me, it was so important to do a

really challenging, a robust qualification

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just to make sure that I felt I would be

giving best possible coaching to someone,

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so definitely finishing qualification.

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In terms of the business, I've

started to niche down, I feel very

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passionate about my niche, my, my

sort of 40 year olds, mid career,

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I just know that they're my people.

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So over the next couple of years, I

think I'm going to grow my business

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As best I can, so with a bit of help

from you, for sure, , and work on that

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client pipeline and putting myself

out there like it's not in my comfort

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zone to be a guest on a podcast, for

example, and talk about myself, but.

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We have to do these things, don't we?

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We have to push ourselves out of our

comfort zones and be a bit more visible.

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And yeah, hopefully we'll

have some, some good rewards.

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Joanna: totally love it.

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And especially the 40 year old thing.

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Like, honestly, my life

genuinely began at 40.

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Did you have any hesitations

about investing in the

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program or a business coach?

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Jess: I think it's always easy to

not spend the money, especially when

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you're starting out because you don't

have a robust pipeline of clients.

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You're not bringing in

thousands of pounds every month.

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I think it would be very easy.

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to not think that the

investment's worth it.

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But for me, I think also,

cause I am quite impatient.

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I want to see the results

as quickly as I can.

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And I, I think this is quite

a recent thing for me, but I

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don't mind asking for help now.

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Like I definitely did in the past,

but I think probably through this

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coaching journey, I've realized

that there's no shame in it.

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We can't do everything ourselves,

just spend the money where it's

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going to benefit you the most.

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And I really think it's going to

be an investment that pays off.

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Joanna: Yeah, I love that.

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And my own money mindset has

massively shifted from when I

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started on this coaching journey.

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Even for example, instead of just paying

the money for my ILM level seven, I

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actually worked doing admin work for an

entire year to pay for that training.

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Whereas now I'm like, what was I thinking

working every night of my life with

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a one and a three year old and three

other jobs rather than just hand over

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the 4, 000 pounds or whatever it was.

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So I really hear you on that money

mindset thing and how it does grow in

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your coaching training and on the journey.

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Jess: Yeah, absolutely.

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And it's, it's crazy, isn't it?

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So often you look back and

you're like, why did I do that?

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But if you can learn from that

and do things differently, then

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yeah, that's a good way to be.

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Joanna: Yeah, totally.

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So anything else you are hoping

to gain from the programme?

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Jess: I think another thing actually

is that it can be very lonely when

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you're setting up your own business.

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So.

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whether you're still in an employed role

or you're sitting out on your own and you

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know, you don't have a team around you.

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I think either way it can be very lonely.

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I'm an introvert and I'm very happy

in my own company a lot of the time.

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But I know I need some sort of

connection, teamwork, feelings like

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belonging to something as well.

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So I think that will be another

bonus of your programme.

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Meeting like minded people.

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Joanna: Yeah, totally.

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I really do see it like coach training.

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And I think often like I really bonded

with my coach training people like

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you have with yours, but then sadly

it kind of drifts away when you leave

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that space and it's so sad because

maybe some people are using it in

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their organization or they might not

all be setting up coaching businesses.

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So it's so exciting that

you're going to maintain those

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relationships, but we'll see.

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Other relationships with people

using those skills in the way that

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you are hoping to use them as well.

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Jess: Yeah, absolutely.

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Joanna: anything else we haven't

covered, Jess, that you wanted to share?

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Jess: I think we've probably touched on

it, but it's interesting being at this

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point of like, I haven't signed up to

your program yet, but I am planning to,

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and it's, it's quite an interesting sort

of moment of decision or indecision.

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Like, should I go for it?

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You know, like I said, it's very easy

to not shell out another few grand for

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another course, but I'm confident I

will see that return on investment and

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I think I'll see it again and again.

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And I think just have a bit

of fun along the way as well.

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You know, like I said, that connection

with people, not only will it produce

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results, I'm confident that I'm actually

really going to enjoy it as well.

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Joanna: Totally, and actually I've got

an in person event this Friday and this

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morning I've been planning that and I've

been looking into the hormones and at

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the top of the hormone cycle we have

oxytocin which is the love hormone,

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the connection, the happiness, the

joy and if you can get enough of that.

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You won't keep going to the cortisol

and obviously, from either of

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those places comes the action you

take and the results that you get.

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So I think the more we can get

that oxytocin, the more it kills

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off the cortisol stress hormone

and the more we will take bigger

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action and get better results.

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So love that.

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Where can people find you, Jess?

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Jess: My business is TwentyTwentyCoaching,

like you've done 20 years of your career.

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What do you want to do

with the next 20 years?

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You can find me at www.

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twentytwentycoaching.co.uk I'd love to

connect with you on LinkedIn as well.

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I am Jess Spires.

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You can search for me

and you'll find me there.

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And yeah, as coaches, we know that

it's a big commitment to sign up

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to coaching with someone, so what I

offer is a 30 minute call initially,

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we'll see if we're a good fit.

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You can find all my contact

details on my website.

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Joanna: Yes, fabulous.

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And I will also link to them in

the show notes as well, Jess.

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And I love the title of your business.

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It's so true.

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Isn't it?

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That you honestly at 40, you kind of feel

like, well, I've just done so many years.

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I must be nearly done.

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And then you realize you've got the

same amount of time still to go.

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Thank you so much, Jess, for your

time and for sharing with people.

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I know it's such a monumental

moment when you're on that cusp.

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And every time I invest in a

program or a coach, I feel that same

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resistance of like, do I need this?

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I should be able to do this on my own.

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So thank you, Jess.

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And I cannot wait to work with you.

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Jess: Thanks so much, Jo.

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I hope you enjoyed listening to

mine and Jess's conversation.

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I was as interested to hear her

responses as hopefully you were.

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I know that so much resistance

can come up when investing.

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So there are five tips that I

would suggest you ask yourself

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when thinking about any big

investment or decision of any sorts.

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The first is can saying yes

to this opportunity, get me

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closer and faster to my goal?.

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The second is if I could make my

financial investment back by two

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to four times over my lifetime,

would it be a smart investment?

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What about 10 X of the investment?

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The third point is

considered the alternative.

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What happens if I don't say yes.

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Will I be in the exact

same situation in one year.

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In five years.

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Will you complain in one

year, would you kick yourself?

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Fourth is consult your intuition.

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The fears are going to be loud.

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We're making any investment.

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I hear them loudly and clearly myself.

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If I could silence my

fear just for a moment.

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What does my gut tell me about what to do.

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It fear weren't real.

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What would you do?

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And my final point, which I talk about the

end of every episode is to trust yourself.

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So faith versus fear.

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If I come from a place of faith,

rather than fear, would I say

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yes to what this opportunity is?

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Let your faith be bigger than your fear.

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So I hope these steps help

you in your decision-making.

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I have been considering a big

decision myself and using these

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five steps to make a decision.

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So I really hope that they help you today.

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If you want to get my personal support,

then now is the time to do that.

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You will find details of the business

of coaching program and how to

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work with me in the show notes.

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So, like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seeds.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.